Climate Change Plastic Pollution

Taylor Rock
Professor Johansen
ENG 105
27 March 2015
Climate Change: Plastic Pollution Of the 32 million tons of plastic produced annually, only 9% of plastics are recycled globally. The question then becomes, where does all this plastic end up? The answer is our oceans. The United Nations has noted that there is an estimated 50,000 pieces of plastic in every square mile of the ocean (United Nations). Charles Moore first discovered plastic pollution in the ocean in 1997. Unlike the commonly believed fully covered, island-looking garbage patch that people thing of when referring to a ocean gyre, Moore states that while standing on his boat there was not a moment where he could not see a man-mad object floating somewhere in the water. Since Moore’s discovery trash pollution has continued to escalate. The more plastic that is produced, the more plastic that ends up in our oceans. It is commonly believed that the trash in the ocean is the result of ocean transportation or recreational activities that take place in the ocean, but in fact only 20% of the debris in the ocean is a result of individual human interaction (DiGregorio 29). Trash accumulates from all over the world; the debris has commonly traveled hundreds of miles before it gathers into an ocean gyre. National Geographic explains, “An ocean gyre is a large system of circular ocean currents formed by global wind patterns and forces created by Earth's rotation,” (National Geographic). Floating trash becomes caught into currents and then gathered and collected into larger ocean gyres. There are five total gyres: three in the Pacific Ocean, two in the Atlantic, and one located between South America and South Africa (DiGregorio 28). The largest gyre is known as the Pacific Garbage Patch, located near the Hawaiian Islands. This gyre weighs seven million tons and is estimated to be twice the size of Texas (Garbage Patch). Measuring at nine feet deep, there are six times more plastic in this area of the ocean than there is plankton, a main food source for many larger marine animals (Garbage Patch).
Due to the abundance of plastic used globally everyday, plastic pollution has increased immensely in the past 40 years. Estimating the size of all the plastic he could see, Moore first started studying the debris in the ocean with his creation of half-inch mesh nets (Greenberg 49). This creation collected all the debris that was on the surface and Moore soon realized that what they need to study was the older, deeper plastics that were located deeper. Mircoplastics, plastic particles broken down from a larger object, are what scientists need to study the harm of plastic to our oceans. Thompson states, “A bigger problem arises as microbial biofilm, algae and invertebrates attach themselves to microplastic particles, causing them to sink. This creates an endless gentle rain of plastic particles that settle and accumulate on the seafloor,” (DiGregorio 35). Falling plastic debris settles on the ocean floor and can break and smother the coral reefs below.
Not only is that plastic affecting the reefs, but it also has a huge affect on marine life. Small fish often mistake smaller plastic particles as food. Plastics break down to the same color and size of the food that smaller fish would normally ingest. Rebecca Ash explains that it’s possible that, “fish in the intermediate ocean depths of the North Pacific ingest between 12,000 and 24,000 tons of plastic per year,” (DiGregorio 32). The plastic then follows the animal up the food chain and then, eventually, to us. Dr. Jan Andries van Franeker states, “around 95% of Fulmers have plastic in their stomachs that affect them in chemical and mechanical ways,” (Environmental Impact). Entanglement is another side effect of pollution in our oceans. Entanglement rates have sky rocketed in the past decade due to amount of debris collecting in the ocean. Laist states, “Over 250 species have been known to have ingested or become entangled in plastic,” (Plastic Oceans).
For the past 20 years researchers have studied the many different aspects of plastic pollution. During the early stages of plastic ocean pollution, scientists were uncertain about how plastic reacts to the environment of the ocean. Since we are uncertain of how long plastic truly takes to degrade, scientists cannot predict the amount of impact the plastic will have in the long run. Scientists are currently struggling with the difference of studying plastic in a lab verse the natural occurrences that happen in the ocean. Waves are constantly manipulating the plastics and aiding in breaking them down, as well as, the strong ultraviolet rays that weaken the plastic over time.
The question then becomes what are we going to do about this and how? Recently, researchers came together from 38 different countries to understand the complexity of this growing situation. This meeting took place in Honolulu, Hawaii, to diagnose the rate at which this problem was increasing. They came to the conclusion that the overall plastic debris accumulating in the ocean has gone too far and, first, we need to look at the source: humans and their abundance of plastic consumption. From the beginning Moore has explained that this a global issue. He states that the ocean does not adhere to any form of rules or regulations; the ocean will do what it wants, when it wants (Greenberg 49). A social solution to this problem would be implementing a stricter waste management system globally as well as teaching kids at a young age the important practice of recycling. A promising scientific solution to this issue was proposed by 19 year-old Boyan Slat. His creation of the Ocean Cleanup is estimated to extract 7,250,000,000 KG of plastic from each of the ocean gyres in just five years. His machine lets the ocean do the work for him. Nets collect plastic debris in one concentrated area, allowing for easier extraction. With the decrease in plastic into our oceans and the technology for easier extraction, the progress to a healthier ocean will begin.